The Affordable Care Act Drove Record Annual Increases in Enrollment and Total Medicaid Spending Nationally in FY 2015, As Newly Eligible Adults gained Coverage in Expansion States

The Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion resulted in record increases in Medicaid enrollment and spending nationally in fiscal year 2015, with both rising an average of nearly 14 percent, according to the 15th annual 50-state Medicaid budget survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured.

The survey of Medicaid directors across the country, conducted with Health Management Associates, shows big differences across states driven largely by the states’ decisions on the Medicaid expansion. The 29 states expanding Medicaid in FY 2015 reported enrollment and total Medicaid spending growth nearly three times the rate seen in non-expansion states. Adults newly eligible for Medicaid under the ACA with 100 percent federal financing were the primary driver, with enrollment climbing an average of 18 percent and total spending up an average of 17.7 percent in expansion states. By contrast, enrollment and total Medicaid spending grew an average of 5.1 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively, in non-expansion states, with the increase in enrollment largely due to increased participation of previously eligible parents and children. Read more…

Kaiser Health News is a nonprofit national health policy news service that is part of the nonpartisan Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

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